For the soaked spelt semolina cake with apple, pumpkin & dates, first line the bottom of a springform pan (24 cm diameter) with baking paper. Brush the edge with a little butter and dust with a little flour. Preheat the oven to 180 °C top/bottom heat.
For the dough, cream together butter, sugar and vanilla sugar. Fold in orange zest and eggs. In a bowl, mix baking powder, salt, semolina and ground almond kernels. Stir into butter mixture along with juice of one orange, finely grated pumpkin, coarsely grated apples and chopped dates. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan and bake on the middle shelf for about 35 – 40 minutes until golden brown.
For the syrup, put orange juice with sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat until the mixture becomes slightly syrupy. While the cake is still warm, soak it with the syrup and let it cool a bit. Cut the soaked spelt semolina cake with apple, pumpkin & dates into portions and serve.